Sunday, July 16, 2017

In the above chart, the numbers are unclear. Is it 14,542 registered guns, or licensed gun owners in Tamworth, NSW, Australia? Is the increase since 2010 in registered guns, or licensed gun owners?

The number of legal guns and likely, licensed gun owners, is increasing in Australia. It is difficult to know exactly how much it is increasing because statistics are not well kept. National statistics are uncertain because of differences in state systems. From an article in abc.net.au from 2011:

Today, that national system is in a mess. No federal agencies or crime researchers were able to tell the ABC exactly how many registered guns or licensed shooters are in the country, and by how much gun numbers and gun owners were increasing.The best estimate was 2.7 million registered guns, based on patchy figures supplied to Background Briefing. The national police information service CrimTrac does have a national database, and it lists 4.3 million registered firearms. A CrimTrac spokesperson says it has no control over the data and was unable to say anything else about those 4.3 million guns.For the past 15 years, gun homicide rates have been falling, but researchers fear because gun data is poorly kept and rarely shared, new crime trends involving guns are being missed.

It is clear that legal gun numbers have surpassed those that were in existence when the extraordinarily strict gun laws were imposed on Australia in 1996.

The registration and storage measures were rushed through the legislature in record time. The successful strategy was to pass them before any serious objection could be raised, during the emotional reaction to the Port Arthur massacre.

It is hard to reconcile the 2.7 million registered guns said to be "The best estimate" with the CrimTrac police figure of 4.3 million registered firearms.

The number given for Tamworth, NSW is 14,542. The population of Tamworth in 2016 was estimated at 61,800. It makes a considerable difference if there is one registered gun for every 4 people, or one licensed gun owner.

In either case, legal gun ownership is on the rise. It may be due to unintended consequences created by the extremely strict penalties put in place in 1996.

For example, it takes weeks to be approved to purchase a new gun. The system requires an application to purchase. The approved application to purchase is good for 90 days, and generally costs a non-refundable $30.

If a licensed owner is considering purchasing a gun, and does not wish to make multiple trips to a gun store, they are likely to spend the $30 for a permit to purchase in advance, and carry it with them. Gasoline is $5 a gallon in Australia.

With the permit, if they see a rifle or shotgun that they like, they can purchase it on the spot. As the end of the 90 days approaches, the motivation to use the permit and not "lose" the $30 investment rises, increasing the likelihood of a purchase.

Similarly, a wife, son, brother, or sister, is not allowed to have access to a gun safe that their husband, brother or sister keeps their guns in. The motivation is strong (required by law) to have multiple gun safes to keep multiple guns for separate users.

I asked about the availability of used gun safes. I was told they were immediately snapped up when they became available. The Tamworth gun shop had multiple new gun safes available for sale.

How many legal gun owners are there in Australia? It appears that no one knows for certain. It could be anywhere from 1 million to 3 million. The total population of Australia is about 24 million.

The Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers party represents the interests of firearms owners in Australia. It is the only party dedicated fighting for shooters rights in Western democracies. It currently has three members of the NSW Parliament, two members of the Victoria Parliament, and one member of the Western Australia Parliament. National vote levels for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party are about 3% of the totals. In Australia, all voters are required to vote by law.

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Background

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” -- Thomas Jefferson

Syndicated columnist Charley Reese (1937-2013): "Gun control by definition affects only honest people. When a politician tells you he wants to forbid you from owning a firearm or force you to get a license, he is telling you he doesn’t trust you. That’s an insult. ... Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people."

The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles -- Jeff Cooper (1920-2006)

Note for non-American readers: Crime reports from America which describe an offender just as a "teen" or "teenager" almost invariably mean a BLACK teenager.

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.

Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean

It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.

The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

How much do you know about Trayvon Martin? Did you recognize him in the picture above? If not you may need to know more about him. It's all here (Backups here and here)

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” -- Robert A. Heinlein

After all the serious stuff here, maybe we need a funny picture of a cantankerous cat